Gems Comparison
On this page Gems will be compared to see how effective they are compared to each other. This could give players a better insight and understanding of gems in general. =Weapon Gems= Weapon Damage vs. Attack Power vs. Critical Chance Gems can be socketed into your equipment. Some can be socketed in nearly any item, and some only in specific items. The only gems you can put into weapons are gems that give Weapon Damage (Ruby), Attack Power (Amber/Topaz/Emerald), Critical Chance (Garnet/Agate/Tanzanite), Steal HP on hit (Almandine) and Healing Power (Sapphire). Almandines and Sapphires are skipped for now because they are different from the other weapon gems which are used to do as much damage as possible. *Ruby will increase your Weapon Damage on that weapon only. *Amber/Topaz/Emerald will increase your Attack Power. *Garnet/Agate/Tanzanite will increase your Critical Chance. Your damage output is based on 3 things: your primary weapon DPS plus your Attack Power affected by the occasional critical hit that deals an extra 50% damage. Your secondary weapons DPS does not affect overall DPS. Secondary weapons are weapons you seldom use for most attacks: the throwing weapon of a Melee fighter, the daggers of Rangers and the staffs of Mages and Prophets. Putting a Ruby on them wiil have little to no effect. However putting other gems on them will have the same effect as putting them on the primary weapon. First rule of thumb: no Rubies on secondary weapons. Math One of the most reliable ways of testing these gems is using math. It will show what would happen if you put 1 Ruby, 1 Attack Power gem or 1 Crit Chance gem into 1 primary weapon slot. The DPS listed here includes critical strike damage. The data from several users was used and they led to some interesting conclusions. Build 1 A Ranger build with most points in Ranged, but also some in Focus and Vitality. Gemless. DPS of the primary weapon = 425.0 Attack Power when buffed = 16274 Crit Chance when buffed = 55.4% The total average damage per second is shown in this table: As you can see the Critical Chance gem (Tanzanite) and Attack Power gem (Emerald) are somewhat similar in simple overall DPS output. However, the Ruby deals the most damage. Build 2 An Assassin build with all points in Melee. Gemless. DPS of the primary weapons = 2x 259.1 Attack Power when buffed = 16694 Crit Chance when buffed = 39.1% The total DPS is shown in this table: This time the Ruby was clearly behind the two other gems. The reason behind it is that an assassin uses 2 weapons. Putting a Ruby in 1 slot only boosts the Weapon Damage of 1 weapon which is less effective than boosting the weapon damage of 2-handed weapons, or even (cross)bows or essences. The Attack Power gem (Amber) is doing well, but the Critical Chance gem (Garnet) takes the lead by some difference. The main reason is that the total DPS was already high so boosting it with a critical chance gem (percentage based) has more affect than boosting it with an attack power gem (fixed amount). Build 3 A warrior build with all points in Melee. Gemless. DPS of the primary weapon = 542.5 Attack Power when buffed = 17254 Crit Chance when buffed = 42.2% The total DPS is shown in this table: This time the Ruby was clearly the gem with the biggest boost simply because the 2-handed weapon has a lot of DPS. The Garnet is just above the Amber because the overall DPS was high enough that the percentage boost by the Garnet was larger than the fixed amount boost by the Amber. Build 4 A mage build with all points in Sorcery. Gemless. DPS of the primary weapon = 424.1 Attack Power when buffed = 17007 Crit Chance when buffed = 42.2% The total DPS is shown in this table: Again Ruby is the winner. The DPS on the weapon is reasonably high so the Ruby bonus is high as well. The Attack Power gem (Topaz) has less impact than the Critical Chance gem (Agate) because the total DPS is quite high which is clearly better for Critical Chance gems. Conclusions *Using a Ruby on a secondary weapon has little to no effect. *A Ruby has most effect on weapons with high DPS. Using them on 1-handed weapons is less effective. Nearly always a Critical Chance gem or even an Attack Power gem will have a better effect. *At a certain amount of DPS the effect of Critical Chance gems is higher than the effect of Attack Power gems. This seems to be around 1165 DPS when buffed. Above this point Critical Chance gems have more effect on average Damage Per Second; below this point Attack Power gems have more effect. Note: Everyone uses different playing styles with different equipment and different talents. Some gems fit those styles, equipment and talents better than other gems. For example, with certain Prophet talents a Prophet can benefit greatly from critical strikes. Using an Agate (Critical Chance gem) might then be better than using a Ruby even if the Ruby leads to higher average DPS. Category:Gems